WhAt iS mY PerSoNaL PosiTioN, VoicE, AnD inTeResT iN ReLatiOn To kniFe CriMe ???
ArTiCLeS
FiRst HaNd ReSeaRcH
PhAsE OnE
Within the first week of my part three project, there have been two fatal stabbings in London. I acted fast, somewhat like a photojournalist, and went to one of the scenes, after reading this article from the Met Police. [http://news.met.police.uk/news/victim-named-in-youth-club-fatal-stabbing-359844]
ASKING FOR SOLUTIONS
LONDON'S KNIFE WARS: WHATS THE SOLUTION -- BBC DOCUMENTARY
NOTES WHILE WATCHING:
Victims of knife crimes are mostly male; and half are under 25 and BAME
Mayor of London investing in the long term prevention of knife crime, working with schools, etc. Mayor of London didn’t react fast enough to the issue of knife crime when he was elected in 2016, only reacting now because of public pressure, even then, the attention in the media on Brexit is a scape goat for him. Police need to use their powers as police, e.g. stop and search.
Police coverage in London is at its lowest level in 20 years - not enough police presence on the streets of London. Government taken £850million out of the metropolitan police’s budget since 2010. Police officer numbers now below 30,000
You can’t put a price on the cost of somebody's life - all comes down to government cuts, budgets, dehumanises the realities of murders.
Important to broaden the narrative around the issues of knife crimes - not just gangs, but also domestic violence, sexually motivated attacks, etc. Not all deaths, need to address the fact that these injuries are often life changing, but only attention gained when results in death…
In 2018, there were 4,389 offences where someone was injured by a knife in London
Common occurrences in younger generation, children leaving school and getting stabbed on way home, or worse, children coming to school with fresh wounds, bleeding, shoving tissue down their uniforms, etc.
Boys aren’t soldiers in a gang war, they are children. Vulnerable. NEED TO UNPACK THESE IDEAS AROUND MASCULINITY AND VULNERABILITY THAT CAUSES SOMEONE TO BE SO SCARED THAT THEY ARE WILLING TO ALMOST KILL OUT OF FEAR. Education has to be one of the most important parts…
Games such as GTA, in which you can stab people, walk up to a car and steal it, etc. Listening to Drill music - young people are becoming desensitised to the realities of murders, knife crime. PARENTS, WATCH WHAT YOU CHILDREN ARE PLAYING, WATCHING, TAKING PART IN AS RECREATIONS. On the topic of drill music, its not what is being said, its how its being said.
MDR organisation - Make Dreams Reality - organisation to prevent crimes [Chris Preddie, youth mentor]
STOP AND SEARCH YOUR KIDS BEFORE THEY LEAVE THE HOUSE !
Elicit drug market in the UK is worth about £7 billion. Difficult to live in London, especially in poverty, easy money through drug dealing.
According to Met Police, only 7% of knife offences are related to gangs.
Interesting terminology of “grass up” community groups
Black Londoners are almost nine times more likely to be stopped and searched for weapons than white Londoners.
There were 150,000 stop and searches last year in London, down from around 600,000 a decade ago !
Last year [2018] more than a quarter (28%) of stop and searches led to action being taken. Most searches were for drugs rather than weapons.
Glasgows public health approach to crime - treating violence like a disease. Supporting communities, housing, education, etc…
Speak the language of the young people - communication between the youths to prevent crime.
Undertaking firsthand research for my project this week, I visited Brixton, voted one of London's most dangerous locations. I wanted to focus on the nature of memorials, rather informal than formal plaques and graves. Flowers and candles lay on the roads and in the spots where those have died. What could I design to reinvent the typical memorial? How can I make in interactive? And longer lasting?
I simultaneously thought about the types of things in hand with memorials - flowers, candles, cards, balloons. In Brixton, I wanted to photograph flowers. There have been more fatal stabbings in south East London this year (2019) than there are flower shops in Brixton. There have been 12 fatal stabbings, and there are 9 florists spread across the area. It is only February. What is happening to our streets?
ARTICLE: Sajid Javid introduces knife crime prevention orders
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/31/sajid-javid-introduces-knife-prevention-orders
Children as young as 12 could be hit with new asbo-style orders designed to clamp down on knife violence.
The measures – known as knife crime prevention orders – will place curbs on suspects, such as limiting their use of social media to stop gang rivalries escalating online.
A breach of the order, which can be issued to anyone aged 12 or over who is believed by police to routinely carry a blade, will be a criminal offence that could result in up to two years in prison.
The orders could be imposed on people with prior convictions for knife-related offences and subjects could be required to abide by curfews and geographical restrictions, and attend knife crime awareness courses.
Introducing the measures, the home secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “I have been clear that I will do everything in my power to tackle the senseless violence that is traumatising communities and claiming too many young lives.
“The police already have a range of measures they are using to keep our streets safe, but there is more we can do to help them in this battle. I have listened to their calls and will be introducing these new orders to stop gang members carrying knives in the first place.
“It is vital we continue to focus on improving the law enforcement response while at the same time steering young people away from criminal activity in the first place.”
The knife crime prevention orders could also include restrictions relating to social media use in order to prevent the rapid escalation of rival disputes.
These measures would be tailored to the individual case, but they could limit access to particular sites or bar contact with specific people online.
Police will apply for the orders in the courts and, if approved, they will last for a maximum of two years, with reviews after 12 months for adults or more frequently for juveniles.
Sarah Jones MP, the chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on knife crime, said: “Knife crime is an epidemic which the government has failed to grip. Ministers have listened to our calls to intervene with young people at an earlier stage – but this proposal is flawed.
“Imprisoning a young person – as young as 12 years old – for two years for breaching this order is completely disproportionate. It risks criminalising a generation of young people who have grown up unsupported and who often turn to carrying weapons out of fear.
Officials said the move aims to enhance police powers by filling a gap not covered by existing preventive measures such as gang injunctions and criminal behaviour orders.
The government will seek to amend the offensive weapons bill to introduce the knife crime prevention orders.
In another step, the Home Office announced a £500,000 fund to help trading standards teams secure the prosecution of retailers who repeatedly sell knives to under-18s.
John Apter, the national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, which represents tens of thousands of rank-and-file officers, said Javid had missed the opportunity to significantly reduce the problem.
“The government is simply tinkering around the edges of this highly complex and very serious issue. While I cannot fault Mr Javid’s intentions I do not hold out much hope that these measures will have the dramatic impact I am sure he is hoping they will.”
London suffered a particularly bloody 2018, while figures released last week showed that police-recorded violent crime had risen by nearly a fifth in England and Wales. Violent crime recorded by police in England and Wales rose by 19% in a year, the most recent official figures show.
The number of homicides – including murder and manslaughter – rose from 649 to 739, an increase of 14%, in the 12 months to the end of September 2018. It is the highest total for such crimes since 2007.
Knife crime rose by 12% as nearly 40,000 offences involving a blade were reported to police, according to crime figures released by the Office for National Statistics.
Last year, the Home Office unveiled a serious violence strategy. The strategy was backed by £40m of Home Office funding and a new offensive weapons bill to ban the sale of corrosive liquids to under-18s and introduce tougher restrictions for buying knives online. It focuses heavily on the links between illegal drug markets, particularly for crack cocaine, and violent crime.
The strategy did not advocate increased use of stop and search, saying research by the College of Policing and the Home Office showed that changes in the use of the controversial method only had minimal effects, at best, on trends in violent crime, even when measured at the local level.
Despite this, the Metropolitan police increased their use of stop and search last year, with a 19% rise among London’s minority black population, who were targeted more than the white population, official figures showed.
Analysis commissioned by the Guardian also showed that searches of black people were less likely to detect crime than those conducted on white people, and most stops found no wrongdoing.
StArTinG diScuSsiOns AbOut thE neW PoLiciEs - how do you use social media in a positive way?
LONDON'S KNIFE CRIME EMERGENCY: ONE A KNIFE EDGE -- VICE DOCUMENTARY
“In the wake of multiple knife-related murders in the UK's capital, activist and ex-gang member Josh Osbourne takes an in-depth look at the "code of silence". This is an entrenched mindset that regularly stops young people from going to the authorities, in fear of being labelled a "snitch”…” [video description]
More black men have lost their lives to knife crime, in London, than at any other point in the last decade (?)
Young boys feel invincible because the reality of life and death hasn’t yet hit them, but it soon will. Generation wants to prove their invincible. Go beyond the black and white options of life and death.
Postcode wars…
Funeral for Lewis Elwin - interviewer thinks around 75% of attendees at his funeral know who killed him, but the rule of thumb is that they don’t snitch. No one will cooperate with the police - “would rather see the next man’s mum cry, than have my own mum cry for me”... “If you’re not the cute, you’re the disease”
People affiliated with gangs feel safer with knives, like their security blanket. Comfort in carrying.
Influence of social media - posting shocking footage of stabbings, #stoptheviolence, desensitised by videos, intrigued and excited by it, basing themselves off of what they’re watching. Glorified footage, to prove that what they’re doing is real, not just talk. Ramp up the dispute by sending videos and threatening photos to rivals. Surviving a knife attack in no longer enough to put people off repeating. Often go for evidence through images, videos, social media posts...
“No informing came about when society suffered from police brutality. We aren’t under police brutality, but black on black brutality.” - father of critically injured victim of knife crime.
If this were black children killing white children, this would’ve been sorted years ago. Don’t need the EDL, BMP anymore, because this entire race and generation are eradicating the black man, themselves. Comment on contemporary racism?
Normalised injury and death and part in part of growing up, change of tone in coming-of-age nature of youth.
If you can find an output for your inner angst, you don’t need violence - empower the victims and offenders to become someone they actually want to be. Violence is a disease like cancer, and like cancer, we hope to control/cure it.
Accessibility of knives, guns, weapons online - shipped from china, AMAZON ! How do you get knives, gun, weapons off the streets if you can purchase it so easily through the internet, without really having to prove age, identity, signature, etc.
During the 6 week period over the making of the documentary, there were 14 fatal stabbings involving people under 25 - the highest concentration of incidents in the capital in the past decade.
In London, young black men are at a disproportionate for being the victim and the perpetrator. Some argue that it isn’t a race thing, not a gang thing, but a community thing. Issues in the area, not the social structure of the place.
Tragedy of young men being murdered on their way home from a knife violence rally !
SITE VISITS [2]
OnE mAns KniFe AmnEsTy CamPaiGn
BBC News [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-47557636/one-man-knife-amnesty-faron-paul-swaps-knives-for-vouchers]
"Faron Paul was so shocked at the knives that some teenagers were carrying that he decided to do something about it. His Faz Amnesty campaign involves posting on social media, and asking for people to give any knives to him. The knives are often swapped for vouchers, and he then hands them in to the police. Faron Paul exchanges vouchers for knives in order to get the blades off the streets of London."
[14 Mar 2019]
A father on a one-man mission to rid Britain's streets of knives by exchanging them for shopping vouchers has revealed he has been stabbed 18 times. Faron Alex Paul, 31, from London, was knifed nine times on two separate occasions in 2000 and 2006. He now runs his own knife amnesty scheme, where youngsters can hand in their weapons and swap them for JD Sports vouchers. Appearing on Good Morning Britain today the young father, who calls himself a 'daddy by day and vigilante by night' told of his horrific ordeals.
He said: 'I've been stabbed nine times twice. The first one weren't so bad, but the second one I had 40 per cent blood loss, I was in a coma, there was muscle wastage. 'I had to learn how to tie my shoelaces again. I nearly got killed.'
Mr Paul's scheme, Faz Amnesty, sees people contact him on Instagram to arrange a private meeting. When they hand over their weapon, Mr Paul agrees to give it to the police anonymously, at great personal risk. He will then give them vouchers for stores including JD Sports. He told Sky News last week: 'Everybody wants to know why I do this. I do it because I have kids and I want them to live long and happy lives. It's dangerous work so I try to protect myself with a stab-proof vest and I normally have a friend and my dog with me, too. But you never know. 'But every time I take a knife off the street I am probably saving a life and stopping someone from going to jail. 'To me that is worth the risk. I'm trying to help build a better future for the next generation and a situation where local communities don't need to live in fear.'
In a video posted to his social media account, the young father showed his followers three of the deadly weapons which he had collected from a single mother who had confiscated them for her son. When GMB presenter Piers Morgan quoted statistics that show London's knife crime problem is mostly among young black men, Mr Paul disagreed. He said: 'You’re talking about Hackney, Tottenham, Peckham, Woolwich. They are predominately black areas so you’re going to get black people committing crimes. 'Quizzed on why young people are carrying knives, he said that it is because 'they can't get guns' like in the United States. He said 'early intervention in schools' and 'nurturing children' is the key to ridding Britain's streets of weapons."